The 2014 Wrap Up

Way overdue wrapping up the year of 2014!  My last post was early November after one of Silas' soccer tournaments.  Since then, soccer lead to the holidays, the holidays flew by and now it's 2015!

So...November...
Ella had her first 6th grade social.   This is her "Stop! In the Name of Love" move.  I think I mentioned before but she is REALLY loving 6th grade!  She gets herself up at 5:50AM, makes her breakfast and gets me up to pop her contacts in and walk her to the bus stop. The extra 30 minutes of sleep does wonders for me :)

Justin's old white truck finally (pretty much) bit the dust.  It still drove like a champ but the radiator spewed fumes into the cab and there was no heat...it would cost more to fix than the truck was worth. So...it got donated and Justin got a new old truck!

He loves the cap and he loves having heat again!

I went on 2 works trips in Nov/Dec. - One to Tucson and one to Boston.  Both were pretty quick trips and I would have loved to have spent more time in Tucson taking some pictures!

I still never tire of taking picture of sleeping kids. This boy has to have the book yanked out of his hand every night - he's re-reading the Harry Potter series now and on book 3 or 4 again.

We got a beautiful November snow - perfect, beautiful, fluffy snow.  I took a walk on the Mudsock Trail and it was gorgeous.

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year - which we love to do.

I love having my family all together.

And lots of cousin love!

and some sister love too :)

Thanksgiving was late so Christmas came early...

We had Santa come for a little visit too (even though there were MANY moments that he has marked them in his naughty book this year).

Felix (aka Buddy) came back for a visit. Not sure how many years it's been now but it gets more complicated each year! His friend, Gino, now hangs out with him and they roam...around the house.  Usually around 4am or so. But sometimes they are just too damn tired to move. Or respond to the notes that Silas leaves for them.

We had a wonderful family Christmas party at Greg and Tracy's - and we celebrated Dad's 80th Birthday!!!!

So blessed to have parents that are happy, healthy and wonderful :)

And then it was Christmas! I tend to be the first one up now on Christmas - though I fall back asleep until Ella (who is generally the first one to wake up and then wants to get everyone up). Another year with all 3 at home which I'm thankful for.

Justin did surprise me with a little Happy Birthday party.  That was nice even though I was in pj's and hadn't showered - but then again so were a few of the attendees!

And it's never boring after Christmas either - we get to celebrate Silas James' 9th birthday!  He really wanted to go ice skating this year on his birthday...so we did.  And it was painful!!

Two hours doesn't seem like that much time but strap some ice skates on your feet and it can seem like an eternity! I cried uncle quite a few times.  

And we did have some cake and ice cream for the 9 year old (even if it was my leftover cake). He'll get a party and a real cake...maybe in FEBRUARY?

Ella edited this fantastic photo of Silas in his new Superman pj's. I love it!

He was laying on our couch in the family room and then she did the cloud edit.  So cool!

And then it was time to ring in the New Year - it was spent at some different neighbors (because of the OSU game on New Year's Day!) and then at home with the kids after 10pm.  It was nice and relaxing and felt like the perfect way to start 2015!

Happy New Year!  I feel like this one is going to be GRAND!

Better Week

This week has been going much better, except for the dumb Ohio weather. Sunday was 81 and beautiful.  Monday it rained a ton and was just dreary and bluck.  I worked from bed and it was actually quite cozy and productive.

And then yesterday it snowed - real snow, not just the little flurries that don't do much.
I have captioned this "The Agony of Defeat" - poor things. They are still all slumped over like they've given up for good.

Silas and I have been butting heads quite a bit for the last couple weeks.  He's been very whiny and quick to lose his temper and I've been lacking patience myself.  He's such a funny kid though.  For example, last week:
Silas: Can I have my vitamin? I've got white bumps on my arm.
Me: White bumps?
Silas: I'm not sure but it could be scurvy...
Me: ???


It's so easy to get lost in and overwhelmed by the millions things that always need to be done. Household stuff, work stuff, friends/family obligations...on and on.  I feel lucky that most often, I have the ability to step back and put things into perspective.  Clean the toilets or spend time outside with Justin and the kids on a (currently rare) sunny day.  I'll go with the latter.  And by the state of my house...I probably make that choice a bit too much!  But oh well...

At least I've got my sanity...right?!?  ??

What's been Going On?

So, what have we been up to since we got back?  A lot of picking up around the house and trying to get ready for Christmas!!  We spent 17 of 33 days in New York and Christmas has completely ambushed us!

Last weekend Ella and I went to a Girl Scout mom/daughter gala.  It was a "formal" and I had nothing to wear (unless you count my wedding dress) so I ran to the consignment shop and got this dress that maybe someday I'll get to wear again. We had a good time eating cookies (girl scout of course), drinking tea and dancing!

We also went and got our Christmas tree last weekend.  It's not romantic or pretty but we go to Lowe's and get the tree, pay our $15 and get down to the business of getting it trimmed while sipping on eggnog. 

It was getting pretty snowy and bad out when we went to get the tree and we saw this car go off of the road...

oopsie!

I love the shape of the tree - quite lovely for $15!  I think we broke the record for how fast we threw the ornaments on this year.

We've been getting a ridiculous amount of snow and frigid temps (in the single digits) for the last week. Crazy for this time of year!  We've been holing up inside a lot excect for when we MUST go out. Or to play in the snow a little bit.

This is the kind of weather we typically get in February...not December!  I hope that after Christmas we have a very mild winter!!

It's difficult to get into the Christmas spirit this year - I think the kids are doing okay...they are very focused on the presents and Santa of course.  Silas has been coming up and giving random hugs, which I love. Justin and I have been in "be productive" mode.  Getting lots of stuff crossed off our list. Justin is taking time off now until the new year to work on admin for the business.  I am still trying to get caught up from being out so much between surgery and NY trips.  I really just want to get to 2011 and pray for a better year.  And a year for cleaning out the basement!  After the last few weeks, that has become a #1 priority!!

I hope that we can find a way to remember Grandpa J in each holiday - and during those times that he would have spent with us.  It's so important to me that the kids remember as much as possible - his quirkiness, his visits, his birthday calls, the cartoon wrapped gifts.
We have some fun parties to look forward to, our annual Christmas Eve of wrapping and drinking and a New Year's Eve with friends.  Hopefully that will help get us more in the holiday mood!

Snow Dog, BEPs, Fat Cat and Glam Girls Pictures

This winter is the kind of winter I remember having as a kid - LOTS of snow! Zoe hasn't really wanted to spend too much time outside playing in it. She goes out, does her business and hightails her behind right back inside.

I can't say that I blame her with snow like this. 

 The day after the latest of the big snows, I had tickets to see the 

Black Eyed Peas - they were awesome!

 Miss Cleo has been renamed "FAT CAT" 

And no wonder since this is what we find

around the house...

  

We're learning to never leave any food out on the table, counters, anyplace that Fat Cat is..

The minute that we leave the room, she gets it!

On Friday I was lucky enough to have a case of wine delivered to my doorstep, thanks to Grandpa J.  It couldn't have arrived at a better time - after spending so much time with the kids out of school the past several weeks!
 

Ella soon asked me to empty the box out so that she could 
"make an airplane".

She cut wings out of paper and then taped them up, 
took a piece of tinfoil and cut out a microphone to talk to her passengers. 

  

She made tickets to "the Sun Spa", made a ticket holder to put them in

and also drew a TV inside the box for her 2 passengers, AND 

she served them spaghetti and meatballs at NO extra charge! 

  

She spent a good 2 hours piloting her plane to and from the Sun Spa.

Today she decided that her Barbie needed a bouquet of flowers.

She spent an hour coloring, cutting out and making these flowers.

They are less than an inch long. She took a tissue, twisted it up and put the 

flowers down in it so that Barbie could carry the flowers. 

Not having much patience or artistic talent myself, it amazes me when she does stuff like this!

On Saturday night, Ella went to a Red Carpet gala at Abbi and Alli's.

She got all gussied up in her dress and tiara, spending the evening with the big girls.

  

It was quite chilly but the girls had a great time strutting on the Red Carpet!

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

What a wintery winter we've had this winter! We got another snowfall - a good one this time!  It started on Friday, late morning and snowed pretty continuously until Saturday afternoon.  About 8-15" in the area - the snow in our yard is about a foot deep.  

By Friday afternoon there was already enough snow to make a snowman. Justin, Ella and Si went out and made a snowman with cranberries for eyes and mouth, a pointy carrot nose and broccoli for hair.  There was also a lot of shoveling going on Friday and Saturday (yeah, Justin was real happy about that).

On Saturday, Ella and Si played outside for HOURS.  Ella started digging a tunnel and worked on it diligently until it was big enough for them to squeeze into.  She kept "firing" Silas from helping because he wasn't working very hard on it. But he decided he'd rather work on snow angels.  Notice the pink gloves he's wearing.  He DOES have his own blue gloves but they got too wet and we had to swap out for some dry ones - so it was pink or nothing...

It was a snowy, cozy weekend.  A fire to warm up frozen toes and fingers, homemade soup, hot cocoa, and very worn out children at bedtime. (And very worn out mom and dad too just from taking all the snow clothes on and off of them a million times). I hate to see the weekend end so soon!

First Day of Christmas Break

Saturday was the first day of Christmas break and it was a good one.  The kids woke up to some snow on the ground.  Not a ton, but enough to bundle up and spend a few hours outside.  It was great snowball making snow.

Ella and Silas used me for a target - 

luckily I was safely behind the glass door.

 

Ella showing me her littlest snowball. 

We put it in the freezer.

 

Later in the afternoon, we baked and decorated cookies.  I cheated and bought the GFS cookies - they are really yummy.  Nice, thick cookies that aren't too sweet.  I also cheated and bought the icing - 6 pounds of icing.  I still have 5.89 pounds left so let me know if you need some!

Silas had a very difficult time NOT eating the cookies and sprinkles while decorating.

After I moved the decorated cookies, I let him lick the wax paper with all the sprinkles and crumbs.  He was in Heaven with all that SUGAR!

 

They did a great job and had fun. Messy, but fun!

Winter Schminter....

This past week, I have had the song In the Bleak Mid-winter rolling through my head...

The kids missed 2 days of school, the roads were icy, snowy and slushy and pretty miserable.

The poor birdhouse was taking a beating...

And we really should have covered our deck furniture this year!

But on the bright-side...
it was handy for putting a quick chill on a bottle of wine.

Mason got bored at some point of being snowed in and decided to amuse himself by being tied up and seeing how long it took him to get out.
This was the most difficult (below). His escape time was 4 minutes and 31 seconds. Yes, he's an odd duck! And hopefully no one turns us in to Children's services!



Ella and Si did get outside for a bit and enjoyed the snow - but it was REALLY cold and I made them come in when Silas could no longer feel his cheeks.





It's fun to have some snow - but I am really ready for Spring and warmer weather!